Tag Archives: NECA

#3860: Van Helsing

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

VAN HELSING

HORROR OF DRACULA (NECA)

In horror films, it can be awfully difficult for the hero of the piece to cement themselves as an iconic fixture in the same way that the monsters and villains can. It’s remarkable, though, that for as much as Dracula’s popularity has remained, Van Helsing, the hunter responsible for the evil count’s defeat, has managed to stick around pretty well himself. It helps that Van Helsing has gotten his own share of very talented actors in the role. In particular, the Hammer Horror films had Peter Cushing (an actor very frequently associated with villainous roles, despite his own kind and gentle nature) play the part five times, cementing him as one of the character’s most defining actors. His action figure coverage for the part has been relatively sparse, but improving more recently.  There was a Mego release in 2021, and new NECA’s officially in on the Hammer game, following up their Christopher Lee Dracula from last year with a Cushing Van Helsing!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Van Helsing is an Ultimate release from NECA, the second in their Hammer Horror Horror of Dracula set, following the Christopher Lee Dracula figure released last November.  He started hitting about a month or so ago, so, you know, quite a while after the Lee Dracula had completely dried up at retail.  I’m sure that won’t affect his sell-through at all, right?  Like the Count, he’s based on his look from Hammer’s first Dracula film, which makes a lot of sense, it being the most distinctive and all.  The figure stands about 7 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  His articulation scheme is pretty standard for NECA at this point.  It has its ups and its downs.  There’s certainly some spots where he’s very restricted, but he can generally get into all the poses you might need him to.  Van Helsing’s sculpt is all-new, and handled by NECA sculptors Kyle Windrix and Trevor Grove.  It feels pretty in-line with modern NECA horror offerings.  In his default configuration out of the box, he’s got his overcoat, scarf, and hat.  The hat is attached to the head, and that particular head probably has the weakest of the Cushing likenesses here.  There’s a more standard head, sans hat, which has a more neutral expression, and is generally pretty well-kempt, and it’s probably the best of the Cushing likenesses. Lastly, there’s a more disheveled sculpt, with a more intense expression, clearly patterned on his look during the final battle.  While I don’t think the likeness itself is quite as strong as the neutral one, it’s the sculpt that I feel best captures the character, and by far my favorite.  The overcoat-ed look is more on the restricting side in terms of movement, but is of course a signature look, so it’s the one that I see getting the most play.  That said, this figure comes with a whole extra torso you can swap out, which has him in a vest and tie with his sleeves rolled up.  It’s not a signature a look, but it’s got some better movement.  The figure’s paint work is all pretty good.  It’s a little thick on the skintones, but generally everything looks pretty clean, and he’s reasonably life-like.  In addition to the three heads and two torsos I discussed above, Van Helsing is packed with five pairs of hands (tight grip, loose grip, and relaxed for gloved, and tight grip and relaxed for ungloved), a hammer, a single stake, a bundle of stakes, a crucifix, and the two candlestick holders he uses to make his makeshift crucifix in the finale.  It’s all cool and good, but genuinely the candlestick holders are the only thing that truly matter to me, since they’re such a signature thing.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I discussed a little in my review of the Mego Van Helsing, since Jess’s passing in 2021, I’ve read up a lot on Peter Cushing and his life, especially in regards to his relationship with his wife and his reaction to her passing.  In many ways, I find quite a kindred spirit in him, and I like the idea of focusing more on his heroic roles than just the villainous ones.  His Van Helsing has always stuck with me, so I was glad to see another version of it in figure form.  This one’s a pretty solid one, for sure.  In general, he’s really your standard NECA faire these days, but I think he works well with their style, and, most importantly, he can do that one cool pose I really wanted.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3835: Kirby

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , ,

KIRBY

EASTMAN & LAIRD’S TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (NECA)

It’s a rare occasion that I get to review a figure of a creator of all the cool things I love and frequently buy in action figure form.  Thus far, I’ve reviewed three of them, those being George Lucas, James Cameron, and Stan Lee.  Stan in particular is one of the major architects of the Marvel universe, but he was aided in that by a couple of prominent artists, chief amongst them Jack “The King” Kirby.  Jack’s legal troubles with Marvel mean he hasn’t been graced with a Marvel Legend the way Stan has.  While the Marvel venue doesn’t have anything, Jack had a huge influence on the larger comics creator community, and that’s lead to a lot of references and homages.  During some of Jack’s legal battles, Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird offered up support in the form of “Kirby and the Warp Crystal,” a Donatello-led TMNT special where Don teams up with comic artist “Kirby,” who bears the likeness of Jack.  NECA took advantage of this story to add Kirby to their line of comic-based TMNT figures, so we have a sort of Jack Kirby figure!  Yay!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Kirby is part of NECA’s Eastman and Laird’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line of Mirage Comics-based figures.  He was first offered up at Target as part of one of their Haulathon events last year, I think?  I don’t know, they all blend together and I feel like there’s like 15 of them every year.  Anyway, the figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 33 points of articulation.  In terms of scaling, he’s obviously meant to go with the 7-inch TMNT line from NECA, but given his smaller stature, he winds up about the same size, so you could fudge him in with your Marvel Legends if you were so inclined.  It makes him a little taller than Stan, but I feel like Jack honestly might have gotten a kick out of that.  Kirby’s sculpt shares a lot of its parts with the Mirage Baxter Stockman figure, but gets a new head, as well as new forearms with rolled up sleeves (because how else is he gonna properly beat the snot out of some no good Nazi punks?).  The head sculpt is a slightly stylized and cartoony take on Jack Kirby’s likeness, though certainly more of a proper likeness than the original comics appearance (and it’s even an officially backed license, courtesy of the Rosalind Kirby Trust), and certainly captures the spirit Kirby, albeit in a more wider line appropriate styling.  The paint work on Kirby is meant to emulate comic book line-work, so there’s a bit of outlining and crosshatching, which honestly works better in-person than I expected it too.  Beyond that, the colors are pretty bright, clean, and eye-catching.  Kirby was packed with five hands (in fists, standard gripping, and a right hand for holding a pencil), a pencil with the Warp Crystal attached, his sketchbook, the gauntlet he designed for Donnie, and a figurine of one of his creations.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve been wanting a Jack Kirby figure since I got the Legends Stan Lee back in 2020.  Obviously, the Marvel angle was a long-shot, so this was kind of a nice surprise.  He was not the easiest figure to get when he dropped, at least in my area.  I’ve been on the lookout for one for a bit, but then one kind of snuck up on me, and a used one came in at work, which made the whole thing a lot easier, I suppose.  He’s fun.  Not the same style as Stan by any stretch, and I certainly still wouldn’t say no to a proper Legends figure, but this one’s still really, really cool.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3651: April O’Neil

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

APRIL O’NEIL

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: THE MOVIE (NECA)

“Also following the city’s unprecedented crime wave is intrepid Channel 3 reporter April O’Neil, who eventually finds herself face-to-face with the Turtles when Raphael rescues her from Foot Clan ninjas.”

NECA and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles go together like…two things that sort of go together, but there are sort of complications to it, and also one of those things also goes with a bunch of other things, so it’s not really all that special when you get down to it?  Okay, admittedly not the cleanest metaphor there.  Back in 2007 when NECA did the first comic-style Turtles, Playmates had kind of a stranglehold on the license, so it was kind of a big deal.  These days, it feels like everyone has some form of the license, so NECA’s offerings are just sort of part of the pack.  Not helping matters in their favor is their reliance on exclusives for so very much of their line.  The movie-based figures started at GameStop, but transferred to Walmart, which was rather frustrating, but is now just sort of the background noise of existence.  Or something.  Anyway, back in 2022, they finally added the live-action version of the Turtles’ best human pal, April O’Neil to the line, and here I am, reviewing it.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

April O’Neil was released in early 2022 as a part of the Walmart-exclusive Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie line.  While Walmart had initially been taking only two-packs, April was a single release, done in NECA’s “Ultimate” styling, something that has become a little more commonplace as the line has progressed. The figure stands 7 inches tall and she has 32 points of articulation.  Compared to some of the other figures in the line, she’s a little restricted, especially the legs, due to the skirt piece.  The hair is also a little restricting on the neck, but not nearly as much as I’d expected it to be.  The sculpt, handled by Adrienne Smith and Trevor Grove, is a solid offering.  The likeness of actress Judith Hoag is quite strong on both of the included head sculpts, though I think it might be just a touch better on the more neutral expression.  Her hair in the movie is very much a remnant of that late ’80s vibe, and it’s the sort of style that’s difficult to translate.  That said, it’s not badly done here; it’s a little thick in some spots, but it generally reads the right way for her appearance in the film.  The body sculpt is respectable enough.  The proportions seem like a decent match for Hoag, and her outfit is well detailed.  I don’t really dig how the articulation is worked into some spots, especially the knees, but it’s generally not bad.  April’s paint work is certainly ambitious, with painted patterns on her shirt and skirt, as well as accenting on her hair, and a fully detailed face.  The patterning actually turns out very well, and is nice and consistent.  The faces, likewise, are very lifelike, and help the sculpt in selling Hoag’s likeness.  My only issue is that the joints on her knees and ankles are molded in her regular flesh tone and painted to match the stockings on her legs, resulting in the paint sheering off pretty much the first time those joints are used, leaving her with rather differently colored joints.  That’s a real bummer.  April is packed with the two head sculpts mentioned above, as well as three pairs of hands (gripping, relaxed, and a fist/pointing combo), her purse, a stack of frozen pizza boxes, Raph’s sai, a microphone with a posable cable, and a small black display stand.  There was also a yellow raincoat piece made available for the first batch of people to get the figure through NECA’s online store, but I obviously didn’t get one of those.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The NECA TMNT figures aren’t what I’d call “fun” to collect.  I got the four turtles because Jess was working at Gamestop at the time, and really only got Casey through luck and connections.  April was really the only other figure I wanted, but, again, the whole process of getting one was not thrilling.  I wound up getting her quite a while after the fact, thanks to a sealed one getting traded into All Time right as her aftermarket price was bottoming out, giving me an easy in. Yay?

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3633: Vincent Price

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , ,

VINCENT PRICE

TOONY TERRORS (NECA)

Fun FiQ Fact #0112: Masters of horror Vincent Price and Christopher Lee shared the same birthday, May 27, and fellow horror actor Peter Cushing’s birthday was only one day earlier on May 26.

I have a deep-seated appreciation of Vincent Price, the root of which comes not from anything Price himself did, but in fact from a stand-up comic’s bit that I heard on Laugh USA some time in the early ’00s, which featured an impersonation of Price attempting to pick up women in a bar, culminating in the phrase “gaze upon my haunting VISAGE!”  I knew Price’s work enough to get the joke at the time, and it’s been stuck in my head ever since, so that it’s the first thing I think of when encountering Price’s actual work.  It’s also become a go-to response to me for unrelated things, because it amuses me.  So, you know, with all that said, I felt like maybe I needed a Vincent Price figure.  As luck would have it, here’s a Vincent Price figure.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Vincent Price was released as part of Series 9 of NECA’s Toony Terrors line.  While the line initially began as strictly fictitious characters, they’ve started working in some horror associated personalities.  Vincent’s the first time that we’ve gotten someone under their own name, but we’ve gotten the likes of Elvira and Svengoolie, and an argument could be made that Vincent was as much a persona as a real person.  The figure stands 5 3/4 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  Ash, the only other Toony Terror I’ve looked at, was pretty stiff, but still had a surprising amount of movement.  Vincent…does not have a surprising amount of movement.  He’s still got the ball-jointed neck, which is certainly useful.  However, he’s just got cut joints at the shoulders and wrists beyond that, meaning he’s really just got the one pose.  Thankfully, it’s at least a pretty in-character pose for Price.  The sculpt is all-new, and true to the rest of the line’s Saturday Morning Cartoon-inspired stylings.  Price is clearly patterned on his look circa the ’70s, which is a pretty classic look for him.  The head sculpt in particular is impressive in its ability to capture everything signature to Price’s likeness, while still looking appropriately cartoony.  Vincent’s paint work is basic, but clean and to the point, and without any notable issues of bleedover or slop.  Vincent is packed with two different right hands, one bearing a cigarette, the other open for gesture or holding.  He also includes a skull (which fits in the open hand), and a black cat.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

One of the places in particular that the “Haunting VISAGE” quote gets thrown around a lot is work, and it’s very specifically hurled Max’s way a lot of the time, to the point that it’s become a very recurrent gag for us.  There was no way I was missing this figure when it arrived at All Time, and I didn’t.  It’s not a very “playable” figure, I suppose, which is a little bit of a shame, but it’s still very fun.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3608: Flash Gordon Movie Figures

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

FLASH GORDON — FINAL BATTLE, MING THE MERCILESS — MILITARY SUIT, & PRINCE VULTAN

FLASH GORDON (NECA)

Fun FIQ Fact #0087: Despite my love of Flash Gordon, Queen, and most of the actors involved, I didn’t see the 1980 Flash Gordon in its entirety until 2016.

I’ve been a Flash Gordon fan since I was very young, thanks to my Dad’s copies of the movie series on LaserDisc.  Yes, we were that family.  When I was a kid, the only option for Flash Gordon toys was Playmates’ rather small line of figures from the ’90s cartoon, but boy how things have changed.  There’s, like, options, and stuff.  NECA’s first stab at the license was via Defenders of the Earth, followed by a more comic-based set of figures, now followed by a set of figures based on the 1980 movie.  Aaaaaaaaaaaah!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Flash Gordon, Ming the Merciless, and Prince Vultan make up Series 1 of NECA’s Flash Gordon line, which hit back in January of this year.  All three are based on their appearances in the movie, and, unlike prior King Features offerings from NECA, they’re all at NECA’s “Ultimate” price-point.

FLASH GORDON — FINAL BATTLE

You can’t very well do Flash Gordon figures without the title character, now can you?  Flash has a number of designs over the course of the film, most revolving around the same general design set-up.  This figure specifically is based on his “Final Battle” attire, which is his most distinctive look in the movie, and the one used for most of the marketing stuff.  It’s a natural choice, and one that NECA already referenced previously with their movie-inspired repaint of the Defenders figure.  The figure stands about 7 inches tall and he has 28 points of articulation.  Flash’s articulation is the standard Ultimate fare from NECA, so it’s fairly posable, but definitely has its limitations.  Still, you can get some decent poster style poses for him, which is really all you need, and he’s certainly the most posable of the three in this set.  The sculpt is all-new, and it’s honestly pretty good.  There’s some really nice texture work on the outfit, and the layering of everything works very well.  He gets three different head sculpts, all slight variations on Sam Jones’ dull surprise expressions.  There’s actually more variation than you might think at first glance, but I definitely think the slightly mouth agape one looks the best of the three.  None of them is a perfect match for Jones’ likeness, but they’re certainly not bad by NECA standards.  Flash’s paint work’s pretty decent; there’s a little bit of bleed over on the shirt, but it’s otherwise pretty clean, and it all manages to look the part pretty well.  Flash is packed with five hands (fists, gripping, and a right trigger finger), a sword, a rifle, and…whatever the small gold handled thing is.  The rifle’s trigger broke putting it into his hand the first time, and the stock is likely to break any moment as well, so that’s not great.  The sword’s at least nicer, but it takes some definite doing to get him holding it two handed.

MING THE MERCILESS — MILITARY SUIT

Flash is nothing without a worthy antagonist, so you gotta have a Ming, right?  Right.  Ming is seen here in his military garb.  It’s a slightly more tactical look, and matches up with Flash’s look, but it’s definitely his *second* most distinctive look from the film, the first being his more ornate robed look.  This one does alright, though, so I guess here it is.  The figure stands about 7 inches tall, and, like Flash, has 28 points of articulation.  His articulation is the same general set-up as Flash, but it’s more restricted to be sure.  Of course, Ming’s a far less mobile character, so it works out okay.  His sculpt’s another strong one.  The uniform is sharp and well-defined, and there’s plenty of fun ornate details going on with it.  Ming also gets three different heads.  His main one is wearing his helmet, while the other two are sans-head gear.  All three get different expressions, and they all get an impeccable likeness of Max Von Sydow.  I honestly don’t have a favorite of these ones.  His color work is alright, dealing with more metallics and such.  There’s still a little bleed-over, especially on the gold.  Ming is packed with three pairs of hands (gripping, fists, and open gesture), and his sword.  For some reason, the left fist is missing Ming’s ring, but otherwise, it’s a nice little set-up.

PRINCE VULTAN

Vultan’s the one odd-ball here, but he’s Brian Blessed, and he’s also by far the most glaring omission from Bif Bang Pow’s run with the license in the early ’00s.  And, you know, he’s Brian Blessed.  How can you not.  Unlike the other two, Vultan really only has the one look to choose from, so that’s the one here.  The figure is a little over 7 inches tall and he has 31 points of articulation.  He gets an extra mid-torso joint, as well as swivels on the wings.  His build makes him a little more restricted, but he’s a little better than Ming.  His sculpt is another all-new one, and it’s….well, it’s easily the best of the three, to be sure.  There’s so much more layering, and the build is just a great match.  Plus, he’s got four heads instead of three, with a hair piece and a helmet to swap between them.  Blessed is known for his expressive nature, and these four heads cover all manner of expressions.  Well, okay, they’re mostly forms of shouting.  It is Brian Blessed after all.  All of them have a strong likeness of Blessed; it’s certainly very clear who it’s meant to be.  His paint work is decent enough.  He’s fully painted, unlike the other two; the painted skin-tone does soften some of the facial details, but not terribly so.  Vultan is packed with two pairs of hands, his club, communicator, and that clear rock/crystal thing.  They, of course, all pale in comparison to the extra heads, but it’s cool he’s got more than just those to go on.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

I missed most of Bif Bang Pow’s Flash Gordon line, so I’ve kind of been looking for a good intro point.  NECA gave me that with these three.  I wasn’t sure when they showed off Flash and Ming, but once Vultan was shown off, I was 100% on board.  Flash is solid.  Not perfect, and the breakage on the rifle is annoying, but solid.  Ming, for me, was along for the ride.  I’d have preferred the robed version, and this one feels a little bare bones, but he’s again a serviceable figure.  Vultan?  Vultan’s perfection.  I love Vultan.  It’s been a few months, and we’ve heard nothing more about this line, so I don’t know if NECA’s planning anymore, but I’d certainly be a fan of getting more characters from the movie.  At least a few more of the main cast, perhaps?

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3368: Donatello as the Invisible Man

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

DONATELLO AS THE INVISIBLE MAN

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES X UNIVERSAL MONSTERS (NECA)

During the vintage TMNT line run, Playmates was faced with the dilemma of needing to keep the main Turtles in the line, without the line becoming just repeats of the same basic looks over and over again.  Enter the wacky variants.  But not just any wacky variants; the Turtle variants were like variants on steroids.  They covered all sorts of themes and play features, and eventually they even started doing cross-over figures with other properties.  In 1993 and 1994, they did two sets of Universal Monsters cross-over Turtles, and 30 years later, NECA is also exploring that concept.  They’re actually reaching the tail end of the line-up, it seems, but they’re also getting around to the best Turtle, crossing over with the best monster, with Donatello as the Invisible Man!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Donatello as the Invisible Man is the sixth figure in NECA’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles X Universal Monsters line, and he started hitting retailers at the end of March/beginning of April.  He’s the second to last figure in the line (at least based on what we know so far), and he’s also the final of the four Turtles.  For Playmates’ vintage versions, there was an Invisible Man, but it was actually Mikey that got assigned the identity, while Donnie’s only figure in the set had him as Dracula.  NECA’s changed almost all of the crossovers for their versions, and while I think some of it’s been a bit of a mixed bag, making Donnie into the Invisible Man is one that feels much more natural than either of the Playmates choices.  The figure stands about 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  The movement on this guy is pretty decent, an improvement on the usual set-up for their actual Turtles molds (which were first sculpted a good long while ago), bringing him closer to their more recent Ultimate offerings.  Range of motion has some slight restriction on the mid section and hips, due mostly to how the design is laid out.  Donnie sports an all-new sculpt, courtesy of Tony Cipriano and Kushwara Studios.  It’s an all-new design, of course, since they’re not doing a direct translation of any prior figures.  It’s a pretty good set-up; the actual turtle side of things seems to be more 1990 movie-inspired than anything else, which I think vibes pretty well with the horror feel.  The Invisible Man elements are a bit more broad strokes, and less specifically the Universal version.  This one’s a tad more steampunk, and that honestly works out alright with it being Donatello.  The sculpting has quite a bit of detailing, including some impressive texturing, especially on the jacket and the scarf.  While other Invisible Man figures go for making the invisible parts truly invisible by just omitting them entirely, this one molds those parts in clear plastic, which feels more Playmates-y.  The standard head has exposed “eyes”, and the feet are wrapped up to the toes, both featuring clear parts for what you can’t see.  Likewise, the shell is also clear, which allows for some fun Playmates-esque details, notably the pizza slices visible in his shell on the back; how exactly they got there is anyone’s guess, but it’s a funny touch.  The only thing I’m not keen on is an issue I also had with the movie Donnie; the straps on the back of his shell for his bo staff storage are just cloth ties, and they really don’t work all that well, especially at this scale.  It’s really difficult to make use of them at all, and I’m honestly just not going to bother.  Donnie’s paint work is rather on the muted side, which has been the general theme on this line.  While the other three turtles kept their bandanas in the usual colors, the adjusted design for Donnie removes the bandana, replacing it with a more Invisible Man appropriate set of goggles.  To help keep some of Donnie’s trademark palette in play, the strap of the goggles, as well as his scarf, are purple, which adds a nice little splash of color.  Donnie is packed with three sets of gloved hands, one set of clear hands, an alternate set of clear feet, an alternate head, his goggles, his hat, his bo staff, a TGRI journal, and a beaker of serum.  For the most part, the extras are pretty solid.  The only one that’s weird is the extra head; it goes for the “going mad” partially wrapped look seen in the original film, and achieves its invisibility by leaving it hollow, much like the standard NECA Invisible Man did.  That’s all well and good, but everywhere else this figure commits to the molded clear plastic look, so it makes for a rather strange mix of styles.  I wouldn’t have minded seeing a standard turtle head in clear for an unmasked look, like the vintage Mikey had.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The crossover Turtles are a cool idea, but they weren’t wowing me at the start.  That said, I’m a Donatello fan, so I was always planning to wait until they showed him off to pass final judgement.  I wasn’t really big on him as Drac in the vintage line, so the move to Invisible Man, who’s also one of my favorite monsters, was quite fortuitous.  He’s not a perfect figure, but he’s a pretty good one.  I don’t see myself getting anything else from the line, but he makes for a fun standalone piece.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3113: Black Noir

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , ,

BLACK NOIR

THE BOYS (NECA)

“Silent, stealthy, and enigmatic, Black Noir is The Seven’s superpowered ninja.  His superstrength and heightened senses, such as his razor-sharp hearing, are matched only by his proficiency in the martial arts.  Criminals run in terror at the mere mention of his name.  Little is known about this lethal warrior, other than his having trained with a master sensei to become the death dealer that he is today.  Whatever lies behind Black Noir’s mask is a complete mystery — which only makes him more terrifying.”

Last week, Amazon Prime’s The Boys adaptation returned for its third season.  I’m writing this review before that, so, you know, I don’t know how it went.  I’m sure it was just fun for the whole family, right?  Just, like, a bunch of people all being super nice and friendly to each other.  Good clean fun.  Classic super hero stuff.  Yeah, that’s definitely how it went down.

All kidding aside, The Boys is pretty much the epitome of “not for everyone,” but I’ve enjoyed the previous two seasons…I mean, in the way that anyone enjoys watching terrible people do terrible things to each other.  Following the second season, they opened up the merchandising floodgates, so there’s all manner of stuff from the show.  It’s a bit tricky for me to really say I like any of the characters enough to actually want any of them in toy form, but there’s one notable exception, and that’s Black Noir.  He’s just a class act, start to finish.  He’s great.  Here’s a toy of him.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Okay, so, I’m going to get this out of the way first and foremost: the pictures for this review are of a modified Black Noir figure.  Here are links for a few pics of the figure unmodified.  I’ve decided not to run them as the main ones for reasons I’ll discuss in the review proper.  So, let’s get to the review proper.  Black Noir is a standalone release for NECA’s The Boys line, following up on the Series 1 release from last year, which featured Homelander and Starlight.  Noir was initially part of Target’s Haultathon event, before being opened up to a wider specialty release the following month.  The figure stands 7 1/4 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  The movement on Noir is fairly standard for NECA releases these days.  It’s a decent assortment of joints, but it’s admittedly a little restricted, especially for a more agile character like Black Noir.  He makes do with it, I suppose, and he’s at least not just a statue or anything.  The integration into the sculpt is a little awkward in a few spots, but that’s also something that’s fairly typical of NECA.  Black Noir’s sculpt is an all-new one, based on his appearance in the show.  It’s mostly a good sculpt.  The top half in particular is where things really work.  The mask assembly is pretty solid, and the layout of all the armored plates and their respective texturing on the torso is actually really great.  I’m not super keen on how high up the elbows are on the arms, but they’re otherwise okay.  I’m also a fan of how well they’ve worked all of those knives into this look.  Things fall apart for the sculpt below the waist.  The boots are kind of goony looking, and the legs, especially the shins, seem far too skinny.  But, by far the worst thing about the sculpt is the figure’s crotch.  On the actual costume, Noir has an athletic cup, which is, you know, pretty sensible for someone in his line of work.  Obviously, it’s a little bulky, but that ain’t what we ended up with on the figure.  No, the figure has…well, it’s certainly one hell of a cod piece.  Perhaps Noir is just very excited about his work?  I’m not entirely sure what the line of logic was on this piece, but it honestly seems a bit baffling to me that no one at any point in the process looked at this figure and went “hey guys, should Black Noir’s penis be quite that obvious?”  It’s honestly just distracting, really, and not exactly the sort of thing I want on the front page of my site, or even on my shelf, really.  So, I did a little bit of awkward surgery, just to make him look a little bit less ridiculous.  That’s what you’re seeing here.  It’s still a little awkward, but a whole lot less so.  Moving past the sculpt, Black Noir’s coloring uses, unsurprisingly, a lot of black.  There are a variety of finishes to the black, which winds up working well for the design.  Black Noir is billed as an “Ultimate” release, but that doesn’t quite seem to line up with his accessories.  He gets three sets of hands and two knives.  They’re all nice enough, but for an “Ultimate” figure, it might have been nice to have a few more weapons, or possibly some alternate battle damaged parts.  Heck, an Almond Joy would have been pretty funny, too.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I like Black Noir a lot on the show, and I think he’s got one of the cooler designs, so as soon as figures were a thing, I was hoping he’d be out sooner than later.  NECA confirming him was definitely cool, and I was looking forward to getting him in hand.  The prototype shots had me worried with that crotch, but I was hoping it was a posing issue.  It wasn’t, and that was definitely frustrating.  I’m happy with the figure after the modification, but it’s not really something I want to have to do my figures, just to get them to a passable spot.  Without the issue, this figure’s a lot of fun, but it’s a pretty big issue, and one that should have been corrected in the prototype stage.  Ultimately, I’m happier to have him with a little work than to not have him at all.

Thanks to my sponsors at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure for review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website.

#3108: Ultimate Ash

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , ,

ULTIMATE ASH

THE EVIL DEAD: 40TH ANNIVERSARY (NECA)

In 1981, after a series of glorified home movies, and otherwise widely unseen product, Sam Raimi and a bunch of his friends put together a full-length feature.  A horror movie about a group of friends trapped in a haunted cabin in the woods, and an extremely low-budget affair to boot, The Evil Dead gained quite a bit of notoriety for its cast and crew, especially Raimi, and the film’s star, Bruce Campbell, who made his first turn as Ash Williams, the man who would become the face of a franchise.  While there’s been toy coverage for the ultimate badass that Ash would become, we’ve never gotten anything based on his debut appearance.  In honor of the film’s 40th anniversary (well, last year, anyway), NECA’s gone back to the beginning, with a full on “Ultimate” treatment for Ash, circa the first film.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ultimate Ash is a single release figure, under NECA’s general Evil Dead banner, but the very first to be officially branded as The Evil Dead, aka the first movie.  The figure was first released in limited quantities to Target as part of their “Haulathon” event, before getting a wider release through specialty stores the following month.  This figure stands about 7 inches tall and he has 28 points of articulation.  Ash’s articulation scheme matches up with the modern NECA set-up.  It’s generally pretty decent, but there are certainly some areas where he could stand to have a little more range of motion.  For the most part, it does what it needs to, however.  Ash’s sculpt is an all-new affair, based specifically on Bruce Campbell’s much less action hero-y portrayal of the character from the first movie.  It does a pretty respectable job on that front.  The details match up well with the look from the movie, and the sculpting is all pretty sharp and on point.  There are three heads included with this release, each with a slightly different expression.  Given how expressive Campbell is in all of the Evil Dead films, it’s nice that NECA continues to give us a full range of extra heads to fully showcase this.  Of the three, I particularly like the more frightened head, which I feel best fits the first movie version of the character, but all three of them have a pretty respectable likeness of a very young Campbell.  Ash’s paint work is generally alright.  Nothing too fancy going on here.  Ash is based on his appearance early on in the film, before he really gets all messy from killing his possessed friends.  Knowing NECA, a bloody version will more than likely follow, but this one keeps with the clean look.  Given that all of the Evil Dead 2 figures had him in various states of dirtiness, having this one be totally clean actually makes it a bit more distinctive.  Ash is packed with a sizable assortment of accessories, befitting the “Ultimate” status of this figure.  He gets three alternate right hands (basic grip, trigger finger, and lantern holding), a lantern, chainsaw, rifle, axe, and the tape recorder he and his friends find in the cabin.  He lacks the book of the dead, which feels like an odd omission; maybe that’s a piece they’re saving for that inevitable bloody variant.  As it stands, not a bad assortment of extras.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I’ve addressed before, my first introduction to the Evil Dead films was via Bruce Campbell’s behind-the-scenes discussions regarding them in If Chins Could Kill.  I really enjoyed the book, and figured I might as well actually watch the films discussed there in.  I watched them in order, and notably caught The Evil Dead after midnight, which certainly made for a slightly more restless night.  I love the low-budget roots of the film, and I’ve been hoping to see some sort of toy coverage for a while now.  This guy finally gives us that, and he does it well.  He’s quite a lot of fun, even if he’s not the distinctive version of Ash that most people remember.

Thanks to my sponsors at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure for review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website.

#2802: Ming The Merciless

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

MING THE MERCILESS

DEFENDERS OF THE EARTH (NECA)

NOTE: This review was written before June 6th.

“Evil ruler of the planet Mongo.  Ming the Merciless has been battling the unconquerable Flash Gordon for years, in their constant clash of good against evil.  Desperate to seize and dominate the Earth, Ming’s greed for conquest has become his obsession.”

As I touched on in yesterday’s into, Defenders of the Earth leaned pretty heavily on the Flash Gordon franchise for much of its plot and mythos.  To that end, the show’s primary antagonist was Flash’s own nemesis, Ming the Merciless.  Much like Flash was a quite prototypical hero, Ming is very much the prototypical arch-villain, inspiring many popular villains that would follow.  Like his nemesis, Ming has had his fair share of figures over the years, but who’s going to complain about getting one more?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ming the Merciless is figure 03 in the first series of NECA’s Defenders of the Earth line.  He too is based on his animated design from the show of the same name.  Even more than Flash, Ming’s design has been subject to much adjustment over the years, and that was true for the show as well.  Beginning initially with some very definite Yellow Peril overtones, by the time of Defenders, they were trying to move him away from such things.  It marked an early transition to a more alien design for the character, with making his skin a very distinctive green hue.  It also, much like with Flash’s design, attempted to take elements from many prior designs and role them all into one.  The end result is something that’s still very much Ming in terms of look, and definitely gets the idea across.  The figure stands about 7 inches tall and he has 33 points of articulation.  He’s got the same articulation scheme as the other two figures, by virtue of again using the same base body.  Ming winds up with the most sculptural deviations from the main body, with a new head, a slightly tweaked upper torso to add the epaulets, new forearms, a new collar piece, and a skirt piece for the waist.  It’s all topped off with a cloth cape, complete with a wire in the lining for posing.  Technically, for full accuracy to the show, the arms should feature looser sleeves, but that might have been too many new parts to cost out.  The parts that are there are quite impressively handled; there’s a lot of character in the face, and the depth of detail on the costume parts is really well-rendered.  Ming’s paint work is more involved than the other two, but it works well.  The accenting on his face and hands is fairly lifelike, and while he’s still got the chipping issue on the ankle joints, at least the molded color is a little darker, so it’s not quite as noticeable.  Ming is packed with two alternate left hands (one open gesture, one trigger finger grip), a sword, a staff, a laser gun (modified from the other two), and two laser effects pieces.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Obviously, if I’m gonna get Flash Gordon, I can’t very well not get Ming, right?  That would be silly.  Ultimately, I wasn’t quite as sure about Ming going in, but I do have to say, he turned out very nicely.  The QC issues are less so on this release, and he’s got a very dynamic appearance.  While he doesn’t quite dethrone Flash as my favorite, he’s still a mighty fine offering.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#2801: Flash Gordon

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

FLASH GORDON

DEFENDERS OF THE EARTH (NECA)

NOTE: This review was written before June 6th.

“Out of the sky, his rockets ignite.  Jets into battle faster than light.  Flash Gordon is the legendary swashbuckler of space travel.  This intergalactic adventurer is known throughout the galaxy as the one man to battle the evil Ming — and come out the hero!  Flash alone understands the twisted mind of this wicked tyrant — and leads the Defenders’ war against him to save Earth from extinction.”

Preceding The Phantom by two years, Alex Raymond’s Flash Gordon was introduced as a competitor to Buck Rogers, but wound up becoming an institution all his own, arguably becoming even bigger than Buck Rogers himself (in fact, when they produced the first Buck Rogers film serial in 1939, they even cast Buster Crabbe, who had famously played Flash three years earlier, in the lead role).  In fact, Gordon’s prominence extended even to Defenders of the Earth, where elements from his series and franchise formed much of the back bone of the cartoon’s plot, making him very much the central figure.  He’s been no stranger to figures over the years, but that doesn’t make getting one more any less cool.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Flash Gordon is figure 02 in the first series of NECA’s Defenders of the Earth line (making him quite literally the central figure in the first set).  Like the Phantom, he’s based on his appearance in the cartoon, but again through that slightly different lens of the NECA release.  While Phantom’s design remained more or less consistent, Flash’s was a much more fluid appearance.  His show design tried to go for something that summed up those elements into one piece, while also streamlining a bit for the purposes of easier animating.  The end result’s a fairly decent, somewhat regal, but still functional design, that feels very true to the character.  The figure stands just over 7 inches tall and he has 33 points of articulation.  His articulation scheme is the same as Phantom’s, by virtue of them using the same core body.  As with Phantom, it’s a good enough fit for Flash, matching alright with his usual depictions.  He adds a few more new parts to the mix, with a new head and shoulders, as well as an add-on for his collar, and a waist cap with a slightly adjusted belt.  The head’s definitely my favorite part of the figure; despite being based on the cartoon character, NECA has opted to also inject quite a bit of actor Buster Crabbe’s likeness into the face, which makes it look even more like that classic Flash Gordon to me.  In general, Flash’s sculpt offers just a bit more in the way of detailing than the Phantom, and it really works.  Flash’s paint work is about on par with the Phantom for the most part, though perhaps a little better.  He’s still got the issue with the paint flaking on the joints on the wrists and ankles, but at least both of his boots match in finish.  I do quite like the slightly metallic finish on the jumpsuit, and the red and gold mesh well together.  There’s a touch of bleed over between the colors, and my figure’s got a small scratch on his forehead, but overall it looks okay.  Flash is packed with a slightly larger array of accessories than the Phantom, with five hands (pair of fists, pair of gripping, and a left trigger hand), a laser gun (same as the one included with Phantom), a sword, and two different effects pieces.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

In contrast to the Phantom, I’ve been a fan of Flash Gordon since a rather early age, courtesy of having my dad’s copies of the film serials to watch (on Laser Disc, if you can believe it).  I’ve had a number of toys over the years, but I’m always down for another cool one.  Of all the figures shown off for this set, Flash was certainly the one I was most looking forward to, and I have to say, he’s also my favorite figure in-hand as well.  He’s still got some slight QC issues, but they don’t seem quite so bad on him, compared to Phantom.  He’s a very fun figure, and I’m certainly glad to have gotten one for my collection.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.